The Merri Soul Sessions

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The Merri Soul Sessions
Paul Kelly Presents the Merri Soul Sessions.jpg
Studio album by
Paul Kelly
Released12 December 2014 (2014-12-12)
RecordedMay 2014
Northcote
GenreSoul
Length41:08
LabelGawdaggie/Universal
ProducerPaul Kelly, Steve Schram
Paul Kelly chronology
Goin' Your Way
(2013) 		The Merri Soul Sessions
(2014) 		Seven Sonnets and a Song
(2016)
Singles from The Merri Soul Sessions
  1. "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 1"
    Released: July 2014
  2. "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 2"
    Released: August 2014
  3. "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 3"
    Released: October 2014
  4. "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 4"
    Released: November 2014

The Merri Soul Sessions or Paul Kelly Presents: The Merri Soul Sessions is the twentieth studio album by Australian musician, Paul Kelly, which was issued on 12 December 2014 on his own label, Gawdaggie Records, and distributed by Universal Music Australia. Kelly provided lead vocals on two of its eleven tracks, the rest featured vocals by either Clairy Browne, sisters Vika and Linda Bull, Kira Puru, or Dan Sultan. The album debuted at No. 17 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Background[]

The Merri Soul Sessions is the twentieth studio album by Australian musician, Paul Kelly, which was issued on 12 December 2014 on his own label, Gawdaggie Records, and distributed by Universal Music Australia.[1][2] Kelly had developed the concept after hearing Vika Bull sing lead vocals on her live version of his song, "Sweet Guy" – originally released as a single in June 1989 – during touring as a backing singer in his group.[3] For the album Kelly provided lead vocals on two tracks and invited various vocalists to sing lead on the other nine of eleven tracks.[4] Tracks feature lead vocals by Vika Bull, Linda Bull (Vika's sister), Clairy Browne, Kira Puru or Dan Sultan.[4]

The album was recorded live-in-the-studio in Northcote, with Kelly co-producing with Steve Schram (Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes), alongside the Merri Creek, which gave the album its name.[3][4] Kelly explained his concept to Australian Musician's junocreative, "I started to imagine a soul revue type record performed live in the studio with a variety of singers and the one band."[5]

Prior to the album's appearance Kelly released four double A-sided 7" vinyl singles, "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 1" (July 2014), "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 2" (August), "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 3" (October) and "The Merri Soul Singles, Volume 4" (November). Kelly promoted the album with a national tour from January to February 2015.[6] He was supported by Hiatus Kaiyote, a neo-soul quartet from Melbourne.[6]

Reception[]

On the ARIA Albums Chart, The Merri Soul Sessions peaked at No. 17.[1][2] Noel Mengel of News Limited's website, news.com.au, rated the album as four out of five stars and felt "[i]t's one of those records where you feel the spirit start to finish, nothing too fussed over, no one going through the motions. There's desperation in the lyrics and a lot of joy in the delivery. And all the best soul music has those two essential ingredients."[7]

Michael Dwyer of The Age praised Browne's vocals on "Keep on Coming Back for More", which had been performed live by Kelly four years earlier on The A – Z Recordings (September 2010, as "I Keep on Coming Back for More"), as a track that was "waiting for Browne's extraordinary voice to send it up in flames." Kelly's nephew, Dan Kelly, was "firing jolts of electric guitar across the bow" while "Kelly rocks back and holds down the tense rhythm. Despite the modest tools at hand, it seems less likely the song will fall apart than that Browne will blow it inside out."[8] Kelly agreed that some of his songs were better when sung by other vocalists.[8] Charles Pitter of PopMatters was of the view that "the band and vocal performances show off the breadth of Australia's talent and the songs are of consistently high standard".[9]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Paul Kelly,[4] unless otherwise indicated.

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalist(s)Length
1."Smells Like Rain"Kev Carmody, Kelly, Dan SultanLinda Bull5:48
2."What You Want"Kelly, SultanVika Bull3:34
3."Keep on Coming Back for More" Clairy Browne3:13
4."Sweet Guy" Vika Bull4:30
5."Righteous Woman" Paul Kelly3:21
6."Don't Let a Good Thing Go"Kelly, William "Billy" MillerDan Sultan3:47
7."Where Were You When I Needed You" Clairy Browne4:29
8."Thank You" Paul Kelly2:58
9."I Don't Know What I'd Do" Kira Puru2:36
10."Down on the Jetty"Linda Bull, Paul KellyLinda Bull, Vika Bull3:01
11."Hasn't It Rained"Cameron Bruce, Linda Bull, Vika Bull, Kelly, Peter Luscombe, Bill McDonald, Ashley NaylorLinda Bull, Vika Bull3:51

Personnel[]

Musicians
  • Clairy Browne – lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Cameron Bruce – keyboards
  • Linda Bull – lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Vika Bull – lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Dan Kelly – guitar
  • Paul Kelly – rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Peter Luscombe – drums, percussion
  • Bill McDonald – bass guitar
  • Ashley Naylor – guitar
  • Kira Puru – lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Dan Sultan – lead vocals, backing vocals
Recording details
  • Paul Kelly – producer
  • Bruce Lucey – mastering
  • Steven Schram – engineer, mixing, producer
Artwork
  • Andy Doherty – booklet
  • Jeff Fasano – cover art
  • Paul Kelly – liner notes
  • Mark Roper – cover art
  • Peter Salmon-Lomas – artwork, design

Chart performance[]

Chart (2014/15) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 17

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Hung, Steffen. "Discography Paul Kelly". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 16 January 2006. pp. 2, 5, 7, 10, 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Bell, Steve (9 December 2014). "Paul Kelly – Paul Kelly Presents – The Merri Soul Sessions". theMusic.com.au. Street Press Australia. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Paul Kelly Presents: The Merri Soul Sessions – Paul Kelly". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2015. Note: User may have to click on tab, e.g. "Credits" to access further information.
  5. ^ junocreative (3 December 2014). "Paul Kelly's Merri Soul Sessions on CD and on Tour". Australian Musician Magazine. Australian Music Association. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Baroni, Nastassia (28 November 2014). "Paul Kelly Announces Merri Soul Sessions National Tour". Music Feeds. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  7. ^ Mengel, Noel (13 December 2014). "Album reviews: Paul Kelly's Merri Soul Sessions, Jerry Lee Lewis, Machine Head, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, Bryan Ferry, Ra". news.com.au. News Limited. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Dwyer, Michael (5 December 2014). "Paul Kelly: Sweet guy hands his soul to killer vocalists". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  9. ^ Pitter, Charles. "PopMatters".
  10. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Paul Kelly – THE MERRI SOUL SESSIONS". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
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